ATF case dismissed by Reno U.S. Attorney picked up by Washoe County District Attorney's office

Oct. 12, 2012

Sparks detectives used a confidential informant for an undercover drug and gun-sale operation involving convicted felon Willie Ledet in April 2011 and secured a state-court conviction last September on drug charges.

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Felon in possession of a firearm state vs. federal punishment:State Law: Under Nevada Revised Statutes 202.360, a person who possesses a firearm after being convicted of a felony is guilty of a category B felony and faces a prison sentence of one to six years and a maximum fine of $5,000. Federal law: Title 18, U.S. Code, Section 922 (g)(1) states that the penalty of imprisonment for violation of the federal law prohibiting a felon to possess a firearm is not more than 10 years and a maximum fine of $250,000.

Trafficking in controlled substances:State Law: A person who knowingly sells or delivers 4 to 14 grams of methamphetamine is guilty of a category B felony and faces a one to six year prison term and a maximum fine of $50,000. Federal law: A person convicted of selling 5 to 49 grams of methamphetamine could face a prison term of five to 40 years and a maximum fine of $2 million. A person with prior drug convictions faces prison terms of 20 years to life and a $4 million maximum fine. SOURCE: RGJ Research

The Washoe County district attorney’s office has filed charges against a man whose case was dismissed by the U.S. Attorney’s office in Reno after they told local agents with the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that they would not prosecute their cases.

Although Deputy District Attorney Kelly Ann Kossow charged Willie Calix Ledet, 46, with trafficking a controlled substance and being a felon in possession of a firearm, if convicted he’ll likely face a lighter punishment than he would have faced in the federal system, a Reno Gazette-Journal investigation found.

Ledet was arrested in May 2011 after an undercover ATF and Sparks Police Department operation caught Ledet selling drugs and guns. A federal grand jury indicted him on one count of felon in possession of a firearm. Ledet had at least three prior felony convictions.

But Assistant U.S. Attorney William Reed filed a motion to dismiss the indictment on Oct. 12, 2011.

Reed’s motion came 13 days after Assistant U.S. Attorney Sue Fahami, head of the Reno office, sent a letter to ATF agents in Reno saying her office would no longer prosecute their cases until unnamed “issues” were resolved. After trying unsuccessfully to get the problems fixed, most of Reno’s ATF agents transferred to new posts in other states.

After the RGJ reported what happened in Ledet’s case Washoe County District Attorney Richard Gammick called the newspaper and said Reed’s decision “isn't riding too well with me” and said “we're not going to let (Ledet) walk on a weapons charge. We're going after it. We're going to pull the case back.”

The rift between the two agencies, first reported by the Reno Gazette-Journal on Sept. 20, is being investigated by the Justice Department and is the focus of Congressional inquiries. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, has demanded answers from the U.S. Attorney General’s office and two members of Nevada’s Congressional delegation has been seeking answers through the House and Senate judiciary committees.

Although Ledet now faces state charges, he would have faced a tougher punishment in the federal system, the newspaper found:

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» A felon in possession of a firearm faces a one-to-six year prison term and a $5,000 fine in state court.» The same charge in federal court means a 10-year sentence and a maximum $250,000 fine.» A drug trafficking charge in state court means a one-to-six year prison sentence and a maximum $50,000 fine.» A drug sales or distribution charge in federal court could mean a five-to-40-year sentence and a $2 million fine.

If the person convicted in federal court on drug charges is like Ledet and has prior drug convictions, his federal prison term could run 20 years to life and he’d face a maximum fine of $4 million. The federal system does not have parole, therefore an offender must serve at least 85 percent of the sentence ordered by a judge. He’d serve the full term if he behaves badly in prison.

Kossow filed the criminal complaint against Ledet on Sept. 20. She said because Ledet is currently incarcerated on other drug charges, she is in the process of drafting the paperwork to set up his video arraignment on the new charges. Once complete, Ledet will be arraigned in Sparks Justice Court, she said.

Ledet is being held at the Warm Springs Correctional Center. He’s up for parole on May 12, 2013 and his sentence ends on May 18, 2014, according to the Nevada Department of Corrections. His current sentence and new charges resulted from an undercover operation that began in April 2011, according to police reports.

Seeking to secure a conviction against Ledet, the Sparks Police Department set up a drug sale using a confidential informant. They watched, video-taped and recorded Ledet as he sold methamphetamine to the informant. They then called in an undercover ATF agent and Ledet sold the agent and the informant a gun and drugs.

They arrested Ledet on May 13, 2011 and he was bound over to Washoe District Court on possession and sale of a controlled substance charges. He was found guilty in state court and sentenced to 28 to 72 months in prison.

The ATF agent filed charges and a federal grand jury indicted Ledet on a felon-in-possession charge, but the federal prosecutor filed a motion to dismiss the charge months later claiming he was told by the deputy district attorney that there was a problem with the confidential informant.

Kossow, the prosecutor on that case, too, told the RGJ that claim was not true. She said the informant testified at Ledet’s trial and the jury found him guilty. Kossow filed the weapons charge but said she filed the new drug trafficking charge because they had evidence that he had sold a larger amount so he qualified for a trafficking charge instead of just a ‘sale’ charge.

The Nevada U.S. Attorney’s office referred questions about the Ledet case to the Justice Department’s Office of Public Affairs. They did not immediately respond.